| On this date in: |
| 1847 |
Inventor Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. |
| 1858 |
A French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary near Lourdes. |
| 1929 |
Italy recognized the independence and sovereignty of Vatican City. |
| 1937 |
A sit-down strike against General Motors ended with the company agreeing to recognize the United Automobile Workers Union. |
| 1945 |
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin wrapped up a conference at Yalta in the Crimea by signing a series of agreements on the governance of post-World War II Europe. |
 |
| AP Photo |
|
| 1963 |
American author and poet Sylvia Plath was found dead in London, a suicide; she was 30. |
| 1975 |
Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to head a major party in Britain when she was elected leader of opposition Conservative Party. |
| 1979 |
Followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran, nine days after the religious leader returned to his home country following 15 years of exile. |
| 1990 |
South African black activist Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in captivity. |
 |
| AP Photo |
|
| 2008 |
The Defense Department charged Khalid Sheikh Mohammed with murder and war crimes in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks. |
| 2009 |
Democrat John Dingell of Michigan became the longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives with more than 53 years of service. |
| 2009 |
President Robert Mugabe swore in longtime rival Morgan Tsvangirai as Zimbabwe’s prime minister. |
| 2012 |
Singer Whitney Houston was found dead in a hotel room in Beverly Hills, Calif., at age 48. (Her death was later ruled an accidental drowning, with heart disease and cocaine use as contributing factors.) |
